The owner of a Siberian husky that attacked and killed a neighbor's Shih Tzu in November in Cass County is struggling to meet a Monday deadline to comply with the county's dangerous-dog ordinance.

If Deb Coker fails, her husky, Rogue, will be euthanized within a week, county officials say.

Coker said it will be nearly impossible for her to meet the requirements of the ordinance, which no Cass County dog owner has done since the law was enacted in 2006.

Not only does Coker lack the money to build a special cage required by the county, but officials also are telling her that she must obtain a $300,000 insurance policy that names Rogue.

"I do have the policy. However, my insurance does not specifically name a dog," said Coker, of Marcellus.

"It covers for dog bites ... (but) my agent has told me that he cannot put it in writing to specifically cover Rogue. It's not something that they do."

The county's animal-control director, Patrick Fetherston, acknowledged that the requirement is stringent, adding that most companies would likely decline to insure an animal that has been classified as dangerous.

"I'm sure it can happen, but how much do you want to spend?" Fetherston said. "At what cost do you want to do this?"

Rogue's fate has been in doubt since January when Cass County 4th District Court Chief Judge Paul E. Deats ruled that he was dangerous. Deats found that Rogue had killed Buddy, a black-and-white Shih Tzu owned by one of Coker's neighbors.

Dog experts have said that Rogue simply may have been acting out of instinct, noting that Siberian huskies are prey-driven animals.

The county ordinance is not breed-specific, and officials say they weigh the dangerous-dog classification on a case-by-case basis.

Most owners of dogs that come to the county's attention for aggressive behavior hand over their dogs to Cass County Animal Control to be euthanized, officials have said.

Coker, however, refused to sign papers classifying Rogue as dangerous, which led to the court proceeding earlier this year.

Cass County modeled its ordinance, in part, after a dangerous-dog law in Louisville, Ky., Fetherston said.

Cindy Cooke, a legislative specialist for Kalamazoo-based United Kennel Club, called the Louisville ordinance the "most draconian, unenforceable" dog law she knows.

Last March, several dog organizations filed a lawsuit challenging the ordinance, claiming it was "vague" and "overbroad," according to reports in the Louisville Courier-Journal newspaper.

Dangerous-dog ordinances require owners to spend a lot of money to keep their animals, Cooke said.

"Basically what we've had here is a dog owner who tried to make a good-faith effort to keep her dog on her property and failed," Cooke said of Coker. "She should have to pay for that in paying a reasonable value for the other dog, in apologizing to her neighbors. She shouldn't have to kill her dog."

Buddy's owner, Ben Fisher, has said he doesn't want Rogue to be euthanized, but he also believes Coker should not be allowed to keep him.

Cass County officials are giving Coker the option of placing Rogue with a dog-rescue organization, as long as it is located in Michigan and it agrees to comply with the ordinance's requirements, including the insurance provision.

Cherie Wagensomer, a Michigan resident who volunteers with a husky-rescue effort based in northwestern Ohio, said she has a $300,000 liability-insurance policy but it does not name specific dogs. Wagensomer said she would take Rogue into her home, but she noted that the huskies she rescues live in her house, not in kennels.

The Cass County ordinance requires that dangerous dogs stay in a cage with a roof and cement floor, and that they be muzzled and leashed any time they are taken out.

Steve Lawrence, director of Kalamazoo County Animal Services and Enforcement, said Kalamazoo County does not require an insurance policy for dangerous dogs, but he noted that groups such as the Humane Society of the United States recommend that local ordinances mandate them.

"It is a difficult thing to force someone to do that, because finding those types of (insurance) policies is difficult," Lawrence said.